How Interior Decorating Can Influence Your Mood

Did you know that interior decorating can change your mood? Check out these mood influencing home decor ideas to create your perfect space.

Welcome back readers! I am pleased to introduce Tyler Dahl. He is visiting to teach us all a little bit about interior decorating and how it influences our moods. Here’s Tyler.

It may have never crossed your mind, but interior design has the power to influence your mood. This is great news because as you begin decorating your home, you can do a couple of things to achieve the mood you desire. How you ask?

Colors, lighting, space, textures, shapes, and patterns all play a huge role in your overall mood. Ask yourself: How do I want to feel when I am at home? Do you want to feel happy, energized, creative, romantic? Whatever the answer may be, I can help you achieve that. Let’s begin.

1) Interior Decorating - Color

In interior decoration, color is no accident. In fact, every interior designer is skilled at using colors to create a certain mood. Although not everyone responds the same way, most psychologists and interior designers would agree that there are general emotions that come from certain colors.

For example, most people associate the color blue (a “cool” color) with calmness because it reminds them of the serenity of a clear blue sky. Red (a “warm” color), on the other hand, can excite people both in a positive and negative way. Red is reminiscent of passion but also danger.

2) Interior Decorating - Lighting

While color plays a huge role in influencing mood and creating the ambiance of a home or living space, lighting is just as important. Most people will immediately think about artificial light, but did you know that the best light won’t cost you a thing? Open up your curtains, and let in some natural light to set a warm and cheery mood.

​​According to the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings that provide a lot of sunlight help keep people physically and emotionally healthy. And this makes a lot of sense. Think about the way you feel on a warm sunny day as opposed to a rainy cold one. It’s a huge difference. But, you can go beyond opening the curtains to take full advantage of the positive effects sunlight offers.

For example, windows facing south, offer a steady supply of daytime light while north-facing windows offer less. Light coming from windows facing the east and west causes a glare. What does this mean for you? If you’re not getting much sun in, consider using lighter or “cooler” colors to lighten up the room. If you get plenty of sunlight, you can balance this with a warmer color.

Additionally, the position of the room and the time of the day that the sun enters the room can help you make decisions about how you want to arrange your furniture.

Let’s move on to artificial lighting. There are three different types: ambient, task, and accent lighting. Ambient light is the basic light that we need in our home, which also includes natural light. Task light is designed to perform specific tasks as the name implies. But, we’re going to talk about accent lighting as this is the type of lighting that influences mood most in home decor.

Accent lighting is all about illuminating objects or areas you want to be noticed. This can be artwork, pottery, plants, souvenirs, and so on. For example, under cabinet lights are often used to highlight unique touches like countertops or backsplashes while creating warmth. In living rooms, accent lights, such as picture lights, highlight photos and create warmness.

3) Interior Decorating - Size and Spaciousness

The size and spaciousness of a home or space impacts mood. Utilize your space wisely when decorating or buying furniture. If you have a lot of space, that’s great. But, don’t be tempted to fill it all up. You also don’t want to leave too much space, which can create distance and coldness. Make sure your furniture is the right size for the space you’re working with. Although you may really want that king size bed, you should probably opt for a full size if you have a small bedroom. A bedroom is a place for relaxation so a cramped room will stress you out.

As for walls, be intentional about what you hang up. Do you really need thirty framed photos of your child's every grade from kindergarten up to their senior year of high school? Although we may be tempted to mount all of our family pictures on the wall, this can make visitors feel like bees in a beehive. Instead, opt for a few art pieces on your wall and use a console table in your living room to display family portraits and photos.

​A study in InformeDesign shows that high ceilings impact an individual's sense of freedom and confinement. More specifically people living or working in a space with high ceilings feel more creative and focused than in rooms with low ceilings and their overall mood is improved. Don’t have high ceilings? The key is drawing the eye upward to create the illusion of height. A Forbes article offers great tips. Here are some of them:

Use tall, skinny bookshelves that go all the way up to the ceiling.

Bring your kitchen cabinets to the top if you're thinking about mounting new ones.

Use full-height doors.

Mount curtain rods all the way up to the ceiling.

Paint your walls, baseboards, and ceilings the same color to blur lines.

4) Interior Decorating - Textures, Forms, and Patterns

Texture, forms, and patterns also influence the mood of any space. Texture adds depth and can be either seen or touched. Examples of textures are pillow covers, bedspreads, drapes, and curtains. Texture adds personality within a home interior design. When using texture, avoid monotony by contrasting textures; of course, without overdoing it.

The forms are the shapes in your home. Good form is achieved when you have successfully used furniture, objects, and open space to create harmony. For example, if you have a long rectangular dining room table, in a room with the same shape, then you have good form because the two rectangular shapes fit together. Your forms would be inconsistent and clash if instead of a long dining room table, you used a small round table in a long rectangular space. That is why form is also an important component in influencing mood.

Patterns (which can also be shapes) are a good way to add interest to interior design and are also a part of what creates mood along with your color scheme. Patterns are typically found on wallpaper, pillows, drapes, and bedspreads.

5) Interior Decorating - Mood Boards

So, now that you know how house interior design influences mood, how do you bring the different pieces (colors, lighting, space, texture, and patterns) together? Here are some suggestions:

Pinterest or Instagram: If you use sites like Pinterest or follow designers on your Instagram account, look at the interior design photos or boards you like or pin. Create a Pinterest board with all of those interior photos you love and you will discover a pattern. This will help get a good sense of what type of mood you want to create using colors, lighting, size, textures, forms, and patterns. If you don’t have a Pinterest or Instagram account, start now!

Start with Color: Another way is by starting with color. Choose a color that you love and work from there. Choose two shades of your favorite color and you have a color palette to start with.

Interior Decorating Apps: Apps like Olioboard can also help you create a mood board for your home or space. Creating a mood board with Olioboard can help you arrange images, objects, and furniture before you buy anything or redecorate. This particular app will show you a room in 2D or 3D and let you preview the different color schemes and furniture choices. The tool's main purpose is to design a room and try it before you buy. You can find other interior decorating apps here.

I hope this advice is helpful. It’s the attention to mood that will successfully guide your interior decorating efforts. Now that you know how interior design can influence your mood, you can start applying colors, lighting, space, texture, and patterns to help you create the perfect ambiance for your space.

What did you guys think about this post? Can you believe you can change your mood with your decor? Let us know how your space changes your mood in the comments below. Don’t forget to share this post with your friends too!

Author Bio: Tyler Dahl is a freelance writer and interior designer who has been writing for various design websites including interior design and graphic design for the last couple of years. In his free time, he loves spending time with his family and going camping.

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